Currently, mobile data communication services include a wireless Internet service, a mobile computing service, a wireless data communication service, a wireless Internet access service, and a satellite communication service.
Of the mobile data communication services, the field of a wireless broadcasting service, which provides various types of content to Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), is attracting attention due the diversity of business, marketability, the progression of technology, etc. Data broadcasting services are now provided by Content Providers (CPs), broadcasting service providers, and mobile communication service providers, who play key roles.
In the case of such data broadcasting services, in a method of implementing a bidirectional data broadcasting service between a broadcasting system and a user, data connection information for connection with broadcast content, which is transmitted from a broadcasting system via a broadcast channel in a broadcasting network, such as a terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) network or a satellite DMB network, is additionally transmitted via another broadcast channel.
Thereafter, according to this conventional technology, a viewer terminal device receives all of the broadcast content and data connection information over the broadcasting network and displays them on the screen thereof. Accordingly, the viewer determines whether a data broadcasting service has started, and requests additional information by making communication network access using URL information included in the data connection information. The transmission of data connection information over a broadcasting network according to the conventional technology has a problem in that additional broadcasting frequency resources must be used, is inefficient in that information that is not wanted or requested by a number of viewers is transmitted because different information is preferred by different viewers who use a bidirectional data broadcasting service, and has restrictions on service implementation, such as the requirement to transmit the same information to all viewers.
Furthermore, even in the case where a service is implemented to provide information associated with broadcasts over a communication network, there is no provision for a method of efficiently establishing synchronization between broadcast information provided over a broadcasting network and supplementary information provided over the communication network. Accordingly, a measure for overcoming these restrictions is demanded.
Meanwhile, ‘DMB service’ is a mobile multimedia broadcasting service in which broadcasting and communication converge, and is a digital broadcasting service which provides CD-level quality audio and data and a high quality video service via mobile phones, PDAs, car terminals, and so on.
Currently, a DMB reception function is implemented in mobile communication terminals. Thus, mobile communication subscribers can view dramas or listen to high quality music, receive information, such as news, weather and the price index of stocks, anytime while watching television, and can view the title or words of music being listened to in the form of captions or a photo, using mobile communication terminals even on the subway or a bus.
Meanwhile, users who use this DMB service form a user group that is different from the group of existing mobile communication subscribers. Thus, the creation of a new service for this new user group is essentially demanded. Furthermore, there is a possibility of encroachment on the existing data market, such as NATE and JUNE, due to the viewing of broadcast content by DMB users. To overcome this problem, service providers who try to create new markets through the varied content convergence of DMB and communication have been very active.
Home shopping, which has grown explosively in broadcasting, such as cable TV, has now become a fundamental means for selling products. If mobile electronic commerce can be activated by combining the broadcast content of DMB with home shopping or a Product Placement (PPL) information service, the rate of use of data as well as sales can increased.
Here, the term ‘PPL’ is one such marketing strategy, and refers to an indirect advertising method of advertising specific products by making the products appear in movies, dramas, etc. as the movie industry grows and becomes sophisticated. The term ‘PPL information service’ refers to a service of, when a user selects PPL information, transmitting detailed information to the user and displaying it on a terminal in conjunction with DMB content.
However, in order to provide the PPL information service, it is necessary to associate the DMB service, that is, a unidirectional service, with the wireless Internet. To this end, the implementation of a server capable of interworking with a terminal, the creation of PPL content, and the implementation of a terminal are required.